Aluminium Intensive Vehicle Enclosures (ALIVE)

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Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK

£37,397,302

June 30, 2020

March 31, 2024

Innovative high strength aluminium alloys, novel processing, joining and assembly technologies have been developed for use in light weight crash resistant battery enclosures and for the integration of such structures into ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs). The optimum combination of extrusions and sheet can provide architectural flexibility in meeting both the protective structures and the thermal management requirements which can control battery operating temperatures to precise levels reducing, the risk of thermal runaway and optimising battery pack operating temperatures during charging and driving to reduce energy losses.

The novel enclosure architectures will provide scalable design and manufacturing concepts utilising agile multi-platform cells on the same production equipment, engineered to meet variable volume demands, while providing a kit of parts for local assembly and export options.

This enables the introduction of multiple EV platforms as OEM technology demonstrators, critical to supporting OEM acceleration to high-volume electrification programs. Without such a solution, the high capital and manufacturing costs of the current production methods act as a significant barrier to low, then medium and high-volume production, thereby delaying the electrification timetable. The proposed solution further de-risks the supply chain by providing scale-up to high volume production by keeping capital costs to a minimum. This provides significant advantages in manufacturing and assembly costs and set up time whilst meeting current legislative requirements, providing the opportunity to define new standards of safety, crash management and energy efficiency.

The ALIVE project will design, develop, assemble and extensively test aluminium intensive prototype enclosures and full-scale demonstrator enclosures for BMW and Volvo electric vehicles, forming an integrated pathway to UK battery pack production by providing the light weight enclosures aligned to current and future battery module technologies and power densities.

The project aims to take another major step with disruptive high strength aluminium alloys and their processing and joining technologies, enabling new enclosure design concepts for the manufacture of both vehicle integration structures and battery enclosures for a new generation of lightweight hybrid and electric vehicles for the UK market that will have a major impact on the UK government's carbon reduction targets for the UK vehicle fleet. The project will establish a UK based manufacturing facility for world leading cost-efficient structural aluminium battery enclosures providing an on-shore resource for BEV and PHEV component manufacture, with the manufacturing concept capable of providing efficient transportation of parts for export assembly.